Rest for the Weary
by triforcemeralds
Summary: While the Hero of Time disappeared from history after the Princess sent him back, practically none in Hyrule know what happened to him, and with good reason. The moon finally stopped the hero must move on with his life in the new world he has stumbled upon. Short look into what may have happened to keep the hero away from Hyrule. Eventually, I'll expand this, but for now, enjoy.


**I eventually want to turn this into something more, but I find myself strangely satisfied with how this turned out. For now I'll post this as a small short story. While I'd love to do more, I really need to work on my other things. Eh, whatever. This creativity boom was brought on by the recent release of MM on the 3ds.**

**I don't own Legend of Zelda or any characters from this franchise. I only own the ideas in my head.**

* * *

"I…I have met you before."

Link watched in confusion as Anju, the pretty red-haired lady he'd been helping, knelt before the purple-haired child Kafei.

"What a familiar scent. Long, long ago…Yes. We were still young. We made a promise… Didn't we?"

Suddenly, Kafei began speaking. "The masks of the sun and the moon… We were to exchange them on the day of the Carnival of Time…"

Link still couldn't quite read the mood in the room. Adults were still weird. Being an adult himself had not changed his perception.

"Anju…I'm sorry I was late," Kafei murmured as gave a slight bow, his fist over his heart.

Anju smiled, and Link was pleased to notice it was a real smile. "…Welcome home."

Tatl giggled happily as the two embraced. "Aww, they're lovers but right now they look like mother and child!"

Link blinked and turned his attention to the fairy. "Is that what it looks like?" he asked with morbid curiosity. Tatl quickly shushed him though as the two broke their embrace.

"Let us exchange the promised masks…" Link and Tatl watched as the two brought their masks together. With a bright blinding flash, the two masks became one. Anju and Kafei turned to the young boy who had done so much for them.

"We have exchanged our oaths and have become a couple," Anju said as she hugged her lover close.

"You are our witnesses," Kafei added as he leaned into Anju's side. "Please accept this mask."

Link subconsciously brushed the mask that was an exact replica within his pocketspace. He nodded and allowed the mask to disappear into his pouch and merge with the one he already owned. "I still don't really understand, but it seems important to you."

Anju and Kafei smiled at the boy's innocence. "Please take refuge. We are fine here." The two of them turned to each other. "We shall greet the morning… together."

Link frowned. "No, I won't let it end like this. It took me too long to get to the point where I could help everyone this time, and I'm not letting everyone suffer again!" Anju and Kafei stared as Link opened the door. "I'm going to stop that moon once and for all," he said quietly.

The couple's eyes widened as they registered the boys words.

"Wh-wha?!" Anju exclaimed in shock.

"Kid! Don't be stupid!" Kafei yelled.

Link just shook his head. "I've had to watch people cry over and over. I finally did things right, and I'm going to end it!" He dashed out the door, letting it close behind him.

Anju and Kafei both stared wordlessly as the sound of a second door closing was heard. Both were having a hard time coming to grips with what had just occurred. Kafei abruptly leapt to his feet and dashed for the door.

"We've gotta stop him Anju!" he cried as she immediately nodded and stood up as well. Stumbling down the stairs, the two hastily opened the door and stepped outside. Both of them stared upwards in fear of the enormous face looming over them. Kafei actually tripped as a tremor ran through the ground.

"Oi! Kid!" Kafei yelled as he searched for him.

"Link!" Anju called as well, supporting Kafei as yet another tremor shook the earth. But just when all hope seemed lost, the shrill sounds of an ocarina rang through the air, vibrating with an otherworldly power. The haunting rhythmic tune echoed throughout the land even as far as Snowpeak. Anju and Kafei listened spellbound as the tune reverberated through the air.

"That's Link's instrument," Anju breathed out in disbelief. What happened next shocked them beyond belief. The four giants, the revered guardians of Termina, suddenly appeared from the four corners of Termina and held the moon up in the sky. All the tremors stopped, and the moon stopped descending.

All of Termina could only stare in shock. They were so sure that they would be killed, so sure that the end of the world was upon them. And then, just as suddenly as the moon had appeared, it vanished, leaving behind a rainbow in the sky.

"He did it," Kafei stated in awe. "Green Kid actually did it!" Suddenly Kafei collapsed in pain.

"Kafei!" Anju cried watching as her lover convulsed on the ground. With a final yell of agony, Kafei grew back into his original form. "Kafei," she breathed in shock.

"I'm back," he muttered, staring at his limbs. They had no time to celebrate though as Kafei noticed something out of the corner of his eye. One of the giants was placing a small green figure on the grass outside of town.

"Anju, look," he pointed.

"Link…"

Kafei grabbed her hand. "Come on, he might be hurt."

* * *

"He's waking up!"

Link groaned as he heard the tinkling of his temporary fairy partner. He slowly sat up, blinking as he tried to get his bearings. He looked to his right and noticed Tatl and Tael hovering next to the skull kid.

"Y-you still considered me as a friend," Skull Kid said, tears streaming down his face. The giants watched him silently before one let off a cry, sounding out the oath to order. Slowly the four giants each took steps in the four cardinal directions. Skull Kid let out tears of joy and sorrow as his friends each returned to their resting places.

"Heehee! You know, you remind me of someone I used to know!" Skull Kid stated. Link smiled as he just leaned back. The Skull Kid sniggered slightly. "Next time we meet, we should play something."

Link nodded tiredly in assent as he struggled to keep his eyes open. He still had so much to do. Standing on wobbly feet he started to stumble his way to Epona.

"Hey, Link!" Tatl yelled, drawing his attention. "I…I just wanted to say," she trailed off unsurely. Link just offered her a smile before urging Epona towards the Great Bay. He had some unfinished business to deal with. "Thank you," she muttered softly

* * *

All over Termina people were celebrating. Families joined together in tears as they embraced one another, just glad to be alive. Friends laughed and people mingled all over clock town, just rejoicing in their new life. The festival of time had never taken on more significance than it had today. Not everyone was completely happy though. Both Anju and Kafei had frantically searched the field, but never found the boy. Even after they had gotten home, things hadn't gone as smoothly as they could have. Aside from having to deal with Kafei's overbearing parents, Anju's mother was decidedly hostile about the whole ordeal. The two were barely able to placate her, and even then it was with a threat.

"I hope he's okay," Anju murmured softly.

"I know honey, I know," Kafei said as he gently embraced his new wife. "I'll get dad to look for him tomorrow."

Their musings were interrupted by the sound of the front door of the Inn opening.

"Hello, welco- Goodness gracious!" Anju and Kafei stared at the door in concern.

"A-Anju, K-Kafei, m-mask for th-them," a voice that both recognized stated.

"Link!" Anju cried as she rushed out the door. The sight before her just about broke her heart. The young boy in green was leaning against the side of the doorway with huge circles under his eyes. His hair was filthy and his clothes had seen much better days. His blue eyes were almost dead, and half-lidded from exhaustion. She watched as a small smile appeared on his face before he slowly held out the couple's mask they had given him.

"H-here," Link said "I-it s-seemed im-portant to-to you."

"Good gods boy," Kafei said as he rushed over with Anju, "What happened to you?"

Link just collapsed. "H-ad to r-return m-masks. Zorons and G-Gora's all s-sad now. P-postman, Butler, marching chicken, ske-elton guys. Froggie's too." His muttering became more and more indecipherable. Anju just wrapped the shivering boy in a hug.

"Shh, just rest now," Anju whispered, noticing the boy tensing as she hugged him. Eventually he just fell slack against her, finally surrendering to sweet sleep.

"A couple's mask, eh?" Anju's mother observed sourly.

"Oh hush mother," Anju whispered as she gently lifted the child up.

"Just make sure he doesn't ruin anything," she fired off pettily. While she would have argued more, Anju had THAT look in her eyes. The same one she had when she and Kafei announced their marriage. She'd never seen anyone fight so fiercely.

Kafei followed Anju upstairs to the knife chamber where she gently laid the boy down on the bed. The two sat there for a short while before Anju couldn't take it anymore. Turning, she buried her face in Kafei's chest and started bawling.

"Why Kafei!?" She cried. "He's just a little boy, not even older than Romani is!"

"I don't know Anj, I just don't know," he sighed as he wrapped his arms around her. "It's rather obvious that he doesn't have any parents. Nobody would allow their child to do what he did." Anju just sobbed harder.

"H-he even tensed up when I gave him a hug, l-like he didn't know what I was doing."

Kafei sat there silently, letting his wife cry her tears for the boy. He started thinking, planning out ideas in his head. Finally, he spoke up. "We could give the boy a home."

"Huh," Anju said.

"A home. A place to stay where he's loved and doesn't have to worry. Let's adopt him." Kafei motioned to the sword and shield on the boy's back. "He's too young to be carrying these. Let's give him an excuse to put up his weapons." Kafei then looked over at the sleeping child. "That is, if he'll let us."

Anju ran her hands through the boy's hair gently. The boy smiled slightly in his sleep, vaguely aware of the gentle touch.

"A-alright," Anju sniffled. She gently kissed the boy's forehead. "Sweet dreams Link."

* * *

Link blearily opened his extremely heavy eyes as he gazed at his unfamiliar surroundings. It looked kinda like the room that Anju gave him. He noticed an unfamiliar weight on his hand and turned his gaze to see what it was. Anju was sleeping beside him, her face resting on the side of the bed while she held his hand. He slowly extricated his hand from hers and stared at it. It felt…warm for some reason. No matter how hard he shook his hand, the warmth persisted. It felt…it felt vaguely similar to…

_Navi_

The thought was like a lightning strike, reminding Link just why he had come here in the first place. His fairy had gone missing, and now he had to return to Hyrule. As quietly as possible, he grabbed all his things and tip-toed out the door. Once outside, he immediately made for the clock tower. The closer the boy got, the faster he moved. He was finally going _home_. Without caring who was watching, he rushed through the town and quickly pushed open the doors under the clock. He dashed around the massive gears and sprinted down the stairs. He was going _home Home HOME!_ He was forced to stop when he ran smack dab into a wall…

Wait, wall?

Link stared confused. What-what happened to the door? Maybe he missed it? He turned around and backtracked examining every inch of the tower for the door home. Nothing.

…Nothing?

Nothing, nothing. What does nothing mean?

He stared numbly at the wall. It could have been minutes. It could have been hours. Time had no meaning as the horrible truth began to sink in.

No.

NonononoNONONO!

There had to be a door, there just had to be! He wanted to go home! Back to the forest. Back to Saria. Back to Navi!

He pounded his little fists on the wall in frustration. Where? Why? After he had worked so hard, why couldn't he go home? Eventually, he slid down the wall before curling up and silently sobbing. He was alone now. No home. No Navi. No Saria. He'd even take Mido right now. As he silently broke down in the dark room beneath the tower, he began closing himself off to the outside world. Thus, he was utterly unprepared for the two sets of arms that surrounded him.

* * *

"Anju!"

Anju murmured sleepily with a frown on her face.

"Anju, wake up!"

"Kafei?" she asked bewildered.

"Where's Link?"

The question bewildered her for a second. "What do you mean? He's right there," she said as she gestured at the empty bed.

…EMPTY bed?

Anju stared in horror at the place where the young boy was sleeping last night when she was taking care of him. Kafei was gathering up supplies for the two of them.

"Come on Anju, he can't have gotten far. We'll see if anyone has seen him around town." Anju just nodded, still numb with shock, and started grabbing her things as well. The two immediately dashed out the front door, Anju apologizing to her mother. It was several minutes later when they were in west clock town that they found a clue.

"Hey!"

Kafei and Anju turned to see a small boy sporting a red bandana staring at the two of them.

"I heard you were looking for the green boy, right?"

Immediately Anju was on the ground in front of the child. "Do you know where he is?"

Jim nodded. "Yeah, one of our society members said they saw him go underneath the clock tower."

Anju was already flying towards the clock as soon as he was finished. Just before Kafei followed her, he gave a short bow with a twinkle in his eye.

"Thank you. The bomber secret society of justice forever!" he quoted before sprinting off. Jim just smiled happily as he gave a sloppy salute.

Anju and Kafei both entered the clock tower slowly, searching for any sign of the boy. What they saw tore their hearts in two. Link was curled up into a ball sobbing his eyes out. Without a single shred of doubt, the two both knelt beside the child and wrapped him in a tight embrace. Kafei frowned slightly as he too felt the immense tension from a simple embrace, while Anju just whispered soothing words.

"What's wrong kid?" Kafei asked as the boy continued to sob uncontrollably.

"I-It's gone!"

"What is?" Anju whispered softly.

"Th-the door, Hyrule, Navi, S-Saria. Everything's gone!"

Anju and Kafei glanced at each other helplessly. None of the things he said were familiar to them.

"Do you have any parents?" Kafei asked.

Link just shook his head while he still sobbed. "No, no parents. J-just Navi. She w-was my fairy, b-but then she d-disappeared. Couldn't find her."

"You were raised by a fairy?" Anju questioned. Again Link shook his head.

"The Great Deku Tree. He raised me in the forest."

Anju and Kafei just stared. None of what he said made any sense to them, but from what they understood the boy had been raised in the forest, presumably by a tree. And the fairy he named Navi was his guardian? That cemented the decision for them.

"Come on Link. Let's get you home," Kafei spoke as he and Anju lifted up the child.

"Y-you can take me to Hyrule?" he asked.

"Oh, Link," Anju said, "I'm afraid we've never heard of Hyrule. But you're welcome to stay with us for as long as you need to. We'll help you get home, somehow."

Emotionally and physically exhausted, Link just kept silent. Once again that strange warmth spread throughout his body from the contact with Anju and Kafei.

_I…I really like this warmth, _ Link thought as he allowed himself to once again fall asleep. _Maybe…Maybe I can wait a bit. I want more of this warmth._


End file.
